Instead of entering a few spaces, you might press the Tab key, which will move the cursor to the first Tab stop, which is one-half inch in from the left margin. Technically, you could think of a margin as an indent, but Word doesn’t treat it as such. Right now, the left margin is set to one inch from the left of the paper. Each one means something specific to indents, which we’ll cover more in depth later. The indent marker comprises these three elements. To the left of the horizontal rule (the one at the top of the screen), notice the triangles and rectangle. If you don’t see a ruler at the top of the screen (just under the ribbon) and one to the left of the screen, as shown in Figure A, click the View tab and then check Ruler in the Show group. On the other hand, a tab, by default is set every half inch. You already know what a space is, so we won’t discuss those at length other than to mention that spaces don’t necessarily equal a specific measurement on the ruler the area each space requires depends on the font face and size. The truth is, you wouldn’t be wrong to do so because in this case, those spaces or tabs will do little to no harm. For instance, in a quick one-off document, you might use spaces or tabs to indent the first line of each paragraph. Sometimes users use spaces or tabs to create that space. Simply put, an indent is empty space between two elements. There’s no demonstration file you won’t need one. Word Online will support built-in indents. I’m using Microsoft 365 on a Windows 10 64-bit system, but you can use earlier versions. How to reset your Windows 10 password when you forget it SEE: 83 Excel tips every user should master (TechRepublic) Must-read Windows coverageĭefend your network with Microsoft outside-in security services

In this article, I’ll show you how to use built-in indents instead. Using tabs and spaces for indents is a good example they can have harsh repercussions that are hard to troubleshoot.

In a simple document, you can be a bit lackadaisical about how you go about things, but longer documents aren’t so forgiving. This is certainly true with a lot of Microsoft Word tasks. You know what people say about the right way: there are two ways your way and my way. Instead, use built-in indents to avoid random spaces and tabs rearranging your content unexpectedly. Spaces and tabs might be the quickest way to indent a paragraph in Word, but you might be sorry. How to indent paragraphs in a Word document-the right way

Create a first line indent in word 2010